This took the longest time, I know, I know but… the suspense! And I had no ideas, no time… just the damned school!! But I promise that this is the final chapter and that the ending is satisfying…. (runs from a bunch of angry readers)

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Chapter 9 – the Zenith

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I didn't even have the sense to scream.

Far too quickly… far too easily, we were rising into the air, without the usual limitations of humans. Then again, in his present incarnation, I suppose that the laws of nature didn't apply to Zurvan as much as they did before. But all I could do was stare at the gaping maw below me, the empty space into which he might choose to drop me at any moment.

But I didn't cling to him either. There came a limpness, caused by the shock, a kind of paralysis passed through my body. I became a simple burden which he carried upward. I suppose that after the initial shock, the fact that we were rising constantly ceased to trouble me that much. Babylon was becoming a little model of a city below us and I understood then that our destination was the palace.

However, my captor didn't carry me to the throne room or the palace rooms itself – instead, we entered the top of the gardens, the area with some fountains and loads of plants. The private rooftop garden of the palace, if you will. And there, in the middle of a tower, we finally started to descend.

The circular tower was primarily empty, probably used for private meals at times of peace. Now, however, I saw that it was to be my prison. A niche where a triumphant statue of Inanna, Ishtar, should have stood – there he placed me, meters above the ground, and uttered another curse or spell, I couldn't tell which one anymore. Just as I realized that now was perhaps the time to try to escape, I felt the slight scratching of sand around my ankles and wrists. I attempted to pry them free, but the manacles around them were more real than I imagined. Struggling, I attempted again and again, to no avail.

"Do not worry, Princess. This won't hurt… too much." The traitor said to me after securing my in my manacles. I couldn't even move my arms or legs, let alone escape. How was I to avoid being transformed into a Sand Monster? And, better yet, would I be able to destroy him once transformed? I didn't know. But I knew one thing for certain.

Whatever I could do, I had to do it quickly.

Zurvan began preparing his magic for my transformation and all I did was struggle against the manacles until, finally, I gave up after a few minutes. They were tight and quite immune against whatever strength I had.

I was about to give up hope of avoiding a twisted transformation into something vile. After all, what hope was there? I was trapped, desperately outmatched… and worse, all alone. As much as I hated admitting it, I would have really appreciated a rescue. And if it would take place right about now would be really wonderful.

I looked away from the former Vizier, attempting to gather my wits. And just then, I saw it. The hole in the middle of the arena-like room had been filled – a platform had been raised and upon it… I didn't dare believe my eyes.

Zurvan was oblivious to the disruption. "Now, where did I put those books?"

A breath caught in my throat. I knew the figure standing mere meters below, ready for a final attempt at ending this nightmare. And I knew, ultimately, from the look on his face, that he had at last decided what is best for his people and for him. That meant that there was still time for my, hopefully not final, words.

I made my first ever attempt at a husky voice, because I had no idea how else a seductive tone should sound. "Zurvan?"

fortunately, it drew his attention. He flew a bit closer to me, hovering at my side like an oversized scarab. "What is it my dear?" Make that a very oversized scarab that attempted something he clearly viewed as a kind, smooth voice.

Overcoming my revulsion, my hatred for a moment, I dared to act a little longer. "In case I don't get the chance again…" It was frightening and slightly sickening to see him close his eyes slightly, with the clear anticipation of a kiss. But how in the world could he have assumed that I would give in so easily, that I would betray all I stand for just to save my own life?

I would die before doing that, for certain.

Without a second's hesitation, my anger returning, stronger now that it had been suppressed forcibly, I spat in his face without a second thought. It wasn't what he had been expecting, to say at least, and he recoiled at once, flaring up in anger.

"You impudent pig!" he roared at me, but I looked away. "I offer you life eternal and this is how you respond?!" Yes. "Oh, I shall enjoy changing you." But at last, it occurred to him that we were being watched, and he turned in midair easily. I almost spat at him again, but it wouldn't have been as satisfying as when he had been facing me, believing me to be surrendering.

"Hello Prince." He said with mock indulgence. "Not quite the homecoming you expected."

Again, I began to struggle with the manacles, moving them about as much as I could move the palace itself, watching the battle taking place in front of me intently nonetheless. The Prince had a new sword of some kind, a rather elegant weapon, so I didn't suppose he had simply taken it from some sand guard. Then again, I remembered Zurvan´s final words to him as he was falling into the well…

"You will pay for what you have done to my people." I heard the Prince say as the Vizier rose up into the air to throw pieces of the architecture at him, which the Prince successfully dodged thanks to his agility.

"Done to them? Things will be better now."

"They live among mindless monsters enslaved by your will!"

"It is the price of progress."

Returning once more to the ground to resume the fight, Zurvan appeared to have trouble striking the Prince, who, in his quickness, was managing to block the attacks quite well. Admittedly Zurvan wasn't able to vanish out of his sight that easily; all he could do was rise into the air once more, throwing the stones at him until finally, he broke apart the upper walls, creating orbits of rubble around the Prince. At the first moment, I was afraid I would have to cover, but the stones landed safely away from me.

"Quick and clever!" Zurvan said, hurling what seemed to be a ball of his own energy at him, which the Prince barely dodged. "You would have made a fine addition to my army. But your corpse will have to suffice."

The Prince hesitated several times in his attempts to get past the debris and to the Vizier. Once, the stones even managed to hit him, causing him to be thrown back slightly. A slight cry came from my throat, but the Prince was back on his feet soon, managing to leap up and flip back from the nearest wall, landing on top of Zurvan himself. What he intended to do became clear a second later. The Prince leapt into the air again and, with all his might, sliced off one of Zurvan´s beetle-like wings.

The former Vizier let out a cry of pain as the prince landed on the ground in the center of the arena again. Now more cautious, Zurvan attempted to be quicker and make the stones rotate faster too, but the Prince struck him twice again, slicing off the other wing and, finally, plunging the glowing sword he had held in his left hand into Zurvan´s chest.

The rubble rose up along with Zurvan, who appeared to be deeply wounded, but able to survive. He rose high, higher than any human could reach, apparently intent on healing himself somehow before resuming the battle. The Prince, however, was quicker than that.

Speedily, he managed to ascend upon the rubble, avoiding another energy ball… barely. He managed to reach the top where the treacherous Zurvan was, drained of most of his energy. The Prince leapt into the air, ignoring whatever laws nature upheld, knowing that this was the moment of destiny.

The Dagger of Time, which the Vizier had so desired… the Prince stabbed it into his heart, close to the sword.

Zurvan and the Prince, along with the rubble, came crashing down, but the Vizier was able to stop their descend rapidly before they crashed.

"This is not what the Dagger promised!" Zurvan shrieked in a voice much more like that of the old man he really was.

The Prince didn't say a word. He ripped the Dagger from his chest, stepping back. Twisting, screaming, the Vizier, Zurvan, exploded in a cloud of Sand, apparently and hopefully forever. Just as he vanished, the manacles holding me captive lifted. I didn't hesitate a moment. I had had enough of standing around like a statue. Immediately, I leapt to the ground, landing near the Prince, who took a step towards me to see if I was all right.

But something else had caught our attention.

The Sands that had possessed the armies below us were now floating through the air, free of their corporeal forms, and a cheer rose from Babylon. But all the Sand seemed to be flowing towards us, to the Dagger.

And yet not to the Dagger.

Mere paces away from us, the Sands centered themselves again to form another human-like form. I was almost afraid that our plan had backfired, until I saw that the shape was unlike any Sand Creature I had ever seen. It was slender, with a figure close to mine, slim. I saw the outline of full breasts and as the head was formed out of the Sand, with long hair flying around it like a flame, I saw that the creature was in fact a woman whose face was pleasant, smiling, as if nothing had happened at all…

We stood back, the Prince and I, and a strange sad look crossed his face. But the woman continued smiling and then said in a soft voice: "This world is not meant for me. But there are others, and I will find my place, just as you have found yours."

She raised her hand, the apparition, and with one motion, the daggertail that had been cut deep into the Prince's arm fell down to the ground with a clicking sound, leaving no trace of a wound behind. We could only marvel.

Then, the figure held out her arms, waiting a moment. And the Prince realized it. She wanted the Dagger. The Dagger was as much a part of her as the rest of the Sands had been. But her face held no malice and the Prince handed her the weapon without hesitation. The moment it touched her arms and he let go of it, the blade that had brought us such sorrows vanished in a ray of light, melting into her.

"Be free now Prince." the woman said peacefully, "Your journey is at an end."

Her figure arched into a spiral, as if turning towards the horizon, her hair spinning around her. The Sands that had formed her outline were swept away by the wind…. But there was no wind and the grains of Sand, flickering a golden color, vanished entirely.

It was over.

"What is it?"

But the Prince didn't seem to realize it as he bent down as if to retrieve something.

Without warning, without any sign of what had happened, the Prince dropped to the ground, as if he had been knocked out. I gasped and immediately dropped down next to him, attempting to shake him, wake him any way I could. This couldn't end like that, for certain… and his face seemed twisted in pain or anger, as if something was happening. I didn't know.

"Wake up, please!" I cried, shaking him by the shoulders, to no avail. But he had saved me, thus he had to give me a chance to do the same. "Wake up. Wake up!"

And slowly, he did. "Farah?" he asked groggily, as if awakening from a deep slumber.

"Are you alright?" I asked, troubled. But as he sat up, the shadow seemed to have vanished from his face… it was as if he had shaken off several years of pain.

"I think…I think it's finally over." He said slowly, with a disbelief in his voice that was mingled with relief.

My breathing eased and I sighed in relief, smiling for the first time in… quite a long time. there would be no more battles this day… and while it would take a long time before our kingdoms would be restored and the two thrones secure again, it was easy to see that a friendship between our realms had been formed today, a friendship that would last for quite some time…

With a slight discomfort, I realized that the allegiance would be best confirmed and made public by marriage – something that I had been trying to avoid all my life. But after this adventure, something told me that marriage would be like a walk – easy, not troubling… as long as I would find the right person to spend it with. With a brief glance at the Prince, I resumed my watch of the sunset, which was quite pleasing at the moment.

Yes, I decided. I would seriously consider his marriage proposal, once it would be made, that is… no, I would most likely accept it. After all, even the few days of hardship we had endured counted as years in my mind, and we had come to know each other as we might not have during years of peace.

And then I remembered.

"Prince?" he turned his attention to me, surprised by my frown. "There's still something I don't understand." I smiled, but I was determined to find out the truth. "How did you really know my name?"

The Prince, apparently having expected a trickier question, smiled mysteriously at that, brushing one of the runaway strands of hair from my face.

"Most people think time is like a river that flows swift and sure in one direction." His explanation began as if it were a line that he had been preparing to say for the longest time, but couldn't find the time or place. However, I listened intensely, wondering what this might have to do with the way he came to know my name… and if the fact that he had taken my hand meant that our bickering was gone with the war. "But I have seen the face of Time, and I can tell you…they are wrong. Time is an ocean in a storm. You may wonder who I am, and why I say this. Come…and I will tell you a tale like none you have ever heard…"

Kakolookiyam.

A door to a new beginning had been opened.

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Finis

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I would like to thank you all for reading and reviewing. I love PoP, this has been a pleasure to write, and a wonderful experience. Hopefully, there will be more such games in the future.

Peace out

Zerbinetta